1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for providing media programs to viewers, and in particular to a system and method for augmenting provided media programs with qualified answers to questions from viewers live and in near real time.
2. Description of the Related Art
Systems for broadcasting media programs to viewers have been available for many years. The earliest of such systems used terrestrially broadcast television signals, that were received by television sets and presented to viewers in their homes. Later, media programs were also provided by means of cable transmission, and still later, satellite transmission. These programs were typically transmitted in modulated form, using frequency or time domain multiplexing to provide different channels. These means for providing media programs have recently been augmented by the Internet. Media programs transmitted via the Internet may be ultimately transmitted by terrestrial transmission, satellite or cable transmission, copper wire, or fiber optics, but the notion of channels is instead implemented via using different uniform resource locators (URLs) for each media program.
Regardless of the means of transmission or providing multiple channels, the presentation of media programs, at least by means of broadcast, has been paid for by incorporating commercials into those programs. To maximize the value of the broadcasted media program, it is desired for the commercials of that media program to viewed by as many people as possible.
There are at least two factors that reduce the number of viewers watching the commercials broadcast with media programs. The first factor is the media program itself. The production of a media program is an expensive endeavor . . . prohibitively expensive to provide nothing but premiered media programs with each broadcast. Hence, many media programs are rebroadcasted at later times. In many cases, such rebroadcasts draw fewer viewers than the premier broadcast, thus causing reduced revenue. The second factor is the advent of digital video recorders (DVRs). Such devices allow the user to easily record a media program for later viewing, and to rapidly skip over any commercials.
There is a need for a system and method for transmitting media programs that enhances viewership of rebroadcasts and disincentivizes the recording of such programs for later viewing. The present invention satisfies that need.